What to do when your puppy vomits?

As concerned pet parents you will no doubt make numerous visits to your vet at the drop of a hat once you bring your new bundle of fur home! One of the common malady in puppies is vomiting. Puppies by nature are curious about the world around them and explore it through their mouth. So, they will find most things exciting to chew on like your slippers, small pieces of bones and even their poop. This is enough to make them throw up a couple of times.

Here are the three basic things that triggers vomit:

• Things that settle in the gastrointestinal tract that causes irritation, obstruction or damage to it.
• Any material that goes inside the body that stimulates a response in the area of the brain, also known as the chemoreceptor trigger zone or the ‘vomit center’. This gets triggered by ingestion of poisonous drugs or toxins in the body.
• Anything that affects your vestibular system like motion sickness or vertigo.

Puppies usually vomit because the things they swallow enters their gastrointestinal tract and causes irritation or a damage. If it comes out through vomit then it’s a big relief otherwise they might have to undergo a surgery to remove the object to prevent more damage to their body organs.

Most of the time puppies eat something really fowl like a dead bird, poop and even spoilt food fallen on the ground. This can cause a bacterial growth or the build up of toxins in their body. Parasite and viral infections especially the dangerous one being the Parvovirus causes continuous vomiting in the affected puppy.

Sometimes serious health conditions might affect young puppies like the congenital organ dysfunction or an infectious condition that effects the organ function like infectious Hepatitis may cause vomiting in puppies.

One golden rule for you to follow is to observe your pet closely. If they vomit only once, appear active, eat normally, drink enough water and are happy enough then you do not have to take them to the vet. They will soon recover. Do not feed them for a few hours. Give them bland food like white rice.

But if your puppy continues to vomit along with diarrhea that is laced with blood (as in case with Parvovirus) and appears tired and lethargic then you must rush them to the vet immediately. Puppies can easily get dehydrated when their water intake is less and the output is more. So, prompt medical intervention will make their recovery faster.